WOMAN: Prime Minister,
why do you think Cold Chisel has lasted 50 years?
why do you think Cold Chisel Cold Chisel are legends.
(CHEERING) Cold Chisel are legends.
(CHEERING) # Listen now to the wind, babe
# Listen now to the rain... #
They've lasted because of the quality of their songwriting,
their musicianship,
and they're a quintessential Australian band
and they're who tell Australian stories.
# The first thing you know I'll be back in Bow River again... #
It's hard to believe it's 50 years
since Cold Chisel started out playing in pubs all around Australia,
just like this one - the Civic Hotel in Sydney.
# I don't want to see this town no more... #
# I don't want to see Over the decades,
it's been a wild ride at times for the band and its audiences.
Cold Chisel are a fantastic band, mate.
They're...they're there as far as Australia's concerned.
We're all here tonight to see them rage. Let's go.
So why has Cold Chisel made such a lasting impact on this country?
In this Australian Story, we'll talk to band members and also some fans
to find out how this legendary group went from impoverished to iconic.
to find out how this legendary group (KNOCK AT DOOR)
(CHUCKLES) Hello.
Ian. Dude.
Hey, there! Hey, Jimmy!
How are ya? Nice to see ya, pal.
(CHUCKLES) How are you, pal?
Good. It's good to see ya.
It's gonna be good, isn't it? Yes.
We're all friends. We've always been friends.
There's been moments where we didn't like each other,
There's been moments but we've always loved each other.
The old studio, eh? but we've always loved each other.
The old studio, eh? Still looks the same.
Yeah. It's good. Yeah.
I'll have to try and play the track for you.
Hey, you know how good I am with all this stuff.
We're like brothers. That's the way I see it.
We're like brothers. (MUSIC PLAYS)
It's not a business thing.
It's about the music
and it's about experiencing the music with these other people.
# Well, you got to move... # # Got to move... #
IAN: It hasn't been all smooth sailing, you know?
Like any proper relationship with, I think, with a family member,
Like any proper relationship there's going to be highs and lows.
And, uh, and we've been through all that.
DON: There's good mutual history and there's bad mutual history.
The bad mutual history tends to fade
and get lost in the sepia
until next time we try and do something.
until next time (CHUCKLES)
# I'm standing on the outside (CHUCKLES)
# I'm standing on the outside looking in
# I'm standing on the outside looking in, whoa
# I never strayed outside the law... #
MAN: One of the reasons Cold Chisel have so much respect and love
is because it felt like they were the people's band.
Like, they are historically a part of...of what we are. is because it felt like they were the people's band.
Like, they are historically a part of...of what we are.
And it's like, "Wow, it's nearly lasted half a century."
# The first thing I do when I get into town
# Is buy a .22 and cut the whole thing down... #
MAN: The whole thing is built on good songs.
MAN: The whole thing To last long, you need the songs.
It's great musicians, you know, playing great songs.
And that is the secret It's great musicians, you know, playing great songs.
And that is the secret
of, you know, their longevity.
# Take a whole life's
# Loneliness
# Wrap it up in some
# Tenderness... #
MAN: And then what happens is, the songs start out as hits
and then they become anthems.
# With all my love... #
And then, with time, they become sacred.
And this is what's happened. And then, with time, they become sacred.
And this is what's happened.
This is what's happened with this band. And this is what's happened.
This is what's happened with this band.
# Only one thing can set you free
# Is all my love
JIMMY: There was something about Cold Chisel
that always sounded like we could implode at any minute.
We didn't have a plan B. Never had a plan B with Cold Chisel. that always sounded like we could implode at any minute.
We didn't have a plan B. Never had a plan B with Cold Chisel.
It was...it was we go in and we make it or we die trying,
and that was it.
MAN: The guys, what are they like?
They're actually all quite different.
Phil, take one.
Phil Small, the bass player,
I don't think he's ever had an argument Phil Small, the bass player,
I don't think he's ever had an argument
I don't think with anybody in his life.
Steve Prestwich, the drummer.
If you said "Left," he'd say "Right."
If you said "Left," If you said "Up," he'd say "Down."
He could be a pain in my arse,
but I loved the guy dearly.
Ian Moss - not only a great guitarist,
Ian Moss - a brilliant vocalist.
A vocalist that any band a brilliant vocalist.
A vocalist that any band would give their right teeth for
A vocalist that any band as a lead singer.
But then you've got this lead singer called Jimmy Barnes.
This rascal that drove me around the bend,
This rascal but the ultimate professional.
He'd spit the dummy,
but he would always be guaranteed to be on that stage.
# All last night we were learning... #
# All last night Don Walker, the keyboard player,
the man behind it all.
The leader.
IAN: Don was older and The leader.
IAN: Don was older and had some really clear-cut ideas
on what we should do to start getting somewhere, IAN: Don was older and had some really clear-cut ideas
on what we should do to start getting somewhere,
and we did affectionately call him 'The Mastermind'.
He was the guy, only real guy in the band
who had a vision of what he wanted the band to be.
We were just in the band because we liked being in a band.
DON: Cold Chisel formed in Adelaide
through, you know, a series of accidents.
I answered an ad in a music shop through, you know, a series of accidents.
I answered an ad in a music shop
and found myself in... in a suburban house
where Ian had seen the same ad.
And gradually we bought people on board
and, uh, tipped other people overboard.
They actually were trying to get my brother, John, Swanee,
who's a singer.
And they approached him and he was like, making too much money to do it,
so he said no.
John suggested this other bloke he knew,
and it was his younger brother, a guy called Jim.
First hearing Jim sing, I think it was early days for him,
might not have had the range, at that stage,
might not have had the range, that his older brother John had.
And at some stage Jim seemed to sort of somehow
found like another octave, just almost overnight.
found like another octave, It was extraordinary.
# Well, I drove to the buyer just as fast as I could go... #
PHIL: I had been out and had seen this band.
There was just something about them.
I thought they were just amazing, you know?
I thought they were just amazing, They had a vibe, a feel.
I got a phone call from Ian Moss
asking whether I'd be interested in coming for an audition,
asking whether I'd be interested and I said, "Yes, of course."
I jumped at it.
IAN: So early years of the band,
trying to make a living was... it was hard.
We soon learned we had to be a cover band for a while, just to get work.
We soon learned we had to be a cover DON: I was writing original songs.
A lot of them weren't very good.
We wanted to be the biggest band in the world,
but the path from where we were to that
was, um, you know, pretty...pretty unclear.
We just had this belief that, "What we're doing is the real thing,
"and the whole rest of the world is wrong."
Like all young bands.
In the first few years Like all young bands.
In the first few years of being in the band,
it was, you know, we were very volatile.
I think it's one of the big reasons we didn't get...we didn't get signed.
I started in Cold Chisel troubled
and became more troubled as we went on.
And if you're troubled and you're out of control on booze and uppers,
you know, uh, it's not a good combination.
Having to deal with me on a day-to-day basis
Having to deal with me must have been a nightmare,
because I was absolutely out of control.
People would come and see Cold Chisel and we'd be arguing and fighting.
People would come and see Cold Chisel Fist fighting sometimes.
Uh, so I constantly argued Fist fighting sometimes.
Uh, so I constantly argued with everybody
Uh, so I constantly argued and would, you know, leave the band.
I must have left Cold Chisel 30 times
over...over the time we were together.
I said, uh, you know, "We need a manager.
"We're scraping along the bottom, going nowhere.
"I need somebody that...that can, you know, help us get out of this."
ROD: After spending 11 years overseas
working as a tour manager, road manager,
I was looking for a band that I could build a career with. working as a tour manager, road manager,
I was looking for a band that I could build a career with.
My younger brother said to me,
"I've seen a band My younger brother said to me,
"I've seen a band that you might like.
"I've seen a band "Cold Chisel."
And I thought, "Oh, my God, what a dreadful name."
He convinced me to go down to see this band
He convinced me and it went through my head,
"This could be the motherlode."
I remember sort of just telling them,
I thought that not only could they be huge in Australia,
but I think they had the potential for worldwide.
In practice, nobody was really interested in us. but I think they had the potential for worldwide.
In practice, nobody was really interested in us.
In practice, nobody was We were going out and playing
to three or four people in Sydney We were going out and playing
to three or four people in Sydney and starving.
# "Go repent," said the preacher
# With his hand stuck in your pocket... #
ROD: From what I could gather from the band,
they were living basically hand-to-mouth.
Every record company had knocked them back
and they've just spent their life on the road.
and they've just spent their life We're just a...
..heavy rock band...
..and, uh, with different influences, that's all.
We built our crowd from live performance
and our audience became very loyal, very staunch,
and they'd come back, and they'd bring their friends.
# When you find the Lord, you soon find out
# When you find the Lord, # There is no way
# There is no way to stop him... #
ROD: I mean, the band were working-class kids.
They were pretty much like their audience.
They were pretty much They were wild.
They were unpredictable, as such.
But the audience loved them
because I think they saw themselves up there.
MARK: There was an amazing bond between the band and their fans.
Radio didn't want to know Cold Chisel,
but crowds across the country, Radio didn't want to know Cold Chisel,
but crowds across the country,
literally in their thousands,
were coming to see them.
DON: When Rod Willis came on board,
I told him, you know, "We're playing the same places we were last year."
And he said, "Maybe your situation will change
And he said, "if you get some new songs."
And so I came in with Khe Sanh,
which I had written some time before,
and that was our new song.
# I left my heart to the sappers round Khe Sanh... # and that was our new song.
# I left my heart to the sappers round Khe Sanh... #
It's about a Vietnam vet returning to Australia
and trying to find some settlement in post-war life.
and trying to find some # From the ocean to the Silver City
# And it's only other vets could understand... #
ROD: Khe Sanh was released as a single.
It was immediately banned by the radio stations around the country,
basically to do with a couple of lyrics.
basically to do with One was "speed and novocaine"
and the other was One was "speed and novocaine"
and the other was "her legs were always open".
# And their legs were often open
# And their minds were always closed... #
# And their minds But the flip side of it all,
the controversy, the publicity from it, was good.
# Well, the last plane out of Sydney's almost gone... #
And literally things made a quantum leap.
Our crowds immediately doubled.
We doubled...we went to Our crowds immediately doubled.
We doubled...we went to twice as bigger halls.
# The last plane out of Sydney's almost gone. #
DON: Over the course of a couple of albums,
I was trying to figure out
how to write, um, commercially successful melodies.
how to write, um, I'm not a pop writer and never was.
But I...I think I can figure out most things.
# Once I smoked a Dannemann cigar... #
In the end, it worked. I must have figured something out.
MAN: Two weeks ago, this was the most added song to radio playlists
throughout Australia.
This week it charted nationally at 29.
Cold Chisel - Cheap Wine.
# I left it all behind
# For my cheap wine and a three-day growth
# Cheap wine and a three-day growth... #
Don had this knack of writing songs,
when I sang them, I thought they were about me
and they were about the situation I was going through at the time.
and they were about the situation # I don't mind taking charity
# From those that I despise
# Baby, I don't need your love... #
And it took me a long, long time till I realised
that that's what everybody in the audience was thinking too.
Every single person in our audience thought that song was about them,
Every single person in our audience which was...you can't ask for more.
# Drunks come in
# A paper bag, Brandivino... #
MARK: Nobody else was articulating the kind of stories
that Cold Chisel were telling in song.
that Cold Chisel # ..cappuccino... #
And they were like, kind of like
thank-you notes to the fans in a funny way,
because they were always drawing authentically
because they were always from their fans' lives.
# Oh, oh-oh-oh, oh from their fans' lives.
# Oh, oh-oh-oh, oh
# Breakfast at Sweethearts... #
IAN: Other band members stepped up to the writing plate,
not leaving it all on Don's shoulders.
And it just seemed to be this, I don't know,
And it just seemed to be this, a period of...of we were in love.
That...that kind of feeling.
It was just, uh, everything we were doing felt like gold
and, uh, and just, uh, just inspired.
and, uh, and just, # I know I got
# My baby
# My baby... #
MARK: Cold Chisel fought their way through to radio airplay
by becoming so popular they were unstoppable.
by becoming so popular By 1980, they were definitely
the number one rock band in Australia by far.
By far.
MAN: As Countdown presents live from the Regent Theatre in Sydney,
MAN: As Countdown presents live the 1980 TV Week Rock Music Awards.
(CHEERING)
The band were asked to perform at the Countdown Rock Awards.
And the band were very much against it.
And what an amazing year it was for Australian music.
Split Enz and Cold Chisel released two of the finest albums
ever produced in Australia.
We'd been at the mercy of Countdown and...and TV Week, you know.
Like, you needed to be in the middle of TV Week
and you had to be on Countdown
if you wanted to make it and you had to be on Countdown
if you wanted to make it in this country.
We hated people having any control over the band,
and we just wanted to, you know, shake it up and say,
"Hey, we're doing things on our terms."
MOLLY MELDRUM: From their live album Swingshift, Cold Chisel!
MOLLY MELDRUM: From their live album My Turn To Cry!
MARK: They just exploded on stage
and they changed the lyrics MARK: They just exploded on stage
and they changed the lyrics to the song on the night,
and they changed the lyrics and they listed all the venues,
which were really... the venues were like battlegrounds
where they had triumphed with the people
over the commercial and industry resistance
over the commercial that had tried to stop them.
# I never saw you at the Ashford Hotel
# I never saw you at the Point Hotel...#
I never saw you at the Largs Pier Hotel. # I never saw you at the Point Hotel...#
I never saw you at the Largs Pier Hotel.
I've never seen you in Fitzroy Street, you know? When I'm starving.
# And now you're trying to use my face to sell TV Week... #
PHIL: We just kind of thought that, you know,
"What's TV Week got to do with the music, really?"
We thought, fuck them, you know? "What's TV Week got to do with the music, really?"
We thought, fuck them, you know?
They did nothing for us.
ROD: At the end of the performance,
the band basically demolished their equipment.
(AUDIENCE SCREAMS, CHEERS)
And the whole audience is agog and kind of half horrified.
I had phone calls from the record company.
You know, "You've killed the band's career." I remember.
But what suddenly started to happen was
people started going to record shops and buying the record.
people started going to record shops So suddenly they started to realise
this is not something So suddenly they started to realise
this is not something that's going to kill the career,
this is going to escalate this career even further.
MAN: It's what we're doing it for.
We're five totally different people.
You know, you couldn't find five more different people
than we are in that band.
It was always a battle.
So, constantly that band... that band were fighting,
So, constantly that band... and there was a lot of tension.
WOMAN: Excuse me. and there was a lot of tension.
WOMAN: Excuse me. Am I taking photos?
WOMAN: Excuse me. No, you're taking photos.
ROD: Managing Cold Chisel was not an easy job.
Jim and Steve would often get into fisticuffs.
One was from Liverpool, one was from Glasgow.
One was from Liverpool, And every time the road crew would
convince them to go back into their room,
one of them would put his head out and antagonise the other,
and then they'd be off again.
Him and I were literally like this the whole time.
It was particularly the tension between me and Steve, you know,
because he's...he's the timekeeper and I'm...
You know, anybody's heard me sing, I'm in front all the time.
I win every time. I'm always pushing.
# At the Star Hotel I win every time. I'm always pushing.
# At the Star Hotel
# At the Star Hotel... #
But it was...the tension made us sound exciting.
So the very thing that made it difficult to be a part of
was also the thing that probably made us most appealing.
It's a really incredible thing.
You know, the whole thing,
the whole secret of Cold Chisel was the tension.
# Just a taste of things to come at the Star Hotel. #
IAN: Trying to make it big in America
IAN: Trying to make it big was definitely the Holy Grail.
It was definitely the plan from...from day one,
'cause I wanted to be a big international rock star.
(LAUGHS)
DON: We finished up going over there for five and a half weeks.
We went there into the teeth of a record company DON: We finished up going over there for five and a half weeks.
We went there into the teeth of a record company
that actively hated us for one reason or another.
We landed in America at a time where
what we were doing on stage and on record
was completely incomprehensible
to what was in fashion
right through the industry there.
And they were mortally scared of it.
IAN: There were some funny tensions on the road the whole time.
IAN: There were some funny tensions Some guys had met future wives
and, uh, were missing them badly.
And some guys hadn't, and, uh, were missing them badly.
And some guys hadn't, and probably too strictly so
And some guys hadn't, had some kind of policy of
just the band on the road only, we need to focus.
There is no question that just the band on the road only, we need to focus.
There is no question that
the American failure, There is no question that
the American failure, and I call it that,
frustrated the band.
But the thing was, the band needed to be there.
Uh...they needed to almost permanently move there.
By that stage, the band had enjoyed
a year or two of big success in Australia,
and we had neither the stamina or the focus to go back to tours
and do the hard stuff that you have to do
in a new territory, such as America,
in a new territory, much to my regret.
And much to the regret of all of us.
And much to the regret We should have stayed there.
Naively thinking, "Oh, we'll just go home and wait for...
"..wait for it all to break for us,
"and we'll come back and we'll be big stars."
We were so disillusioned. We never wanted to go back.
But I did get a good song. I wrote You Got Nothing I Want.
# You got nothing I want But I did get a good song. I wrote You Got Nothing I Want.
# You got nothing I want
# You got nothing I need... #
In 1993, the band toured Europe.
(SPEAKS FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
Cold Chisel.
The reaction to it was fabulous
and I definitely could see The reaction to it was fabulous
and I definitely could see that there was a real future there.
and I definitely could see # I set fire to the town
# I'm gonna set fire to the town... #
But unfortunately during the second European tour,
that is when things started to deteriorate.
IAN: There seemed to be some fracture
between Steve and the rest of the band.
We weren't knitting, weren't gelling.
PHIL: Steve, our drummer, he was homesick.
PHIL: Steve, our drummer, He just wanted to go back home.
He didn't enjoy it at all.
And Steve just kept on saying over and over,
And Steve just kept on saying "We shouldn't fookin' be here.
"We shouldn't fookin' be here."
# Taipan "We shouldn't fookin' be here."
# Taipan
# He'll get you when he can... #
And then, you know, the band started to fall apart on stage.
One! Two! One, two, three, four!
I was trying to make him play too fast.
The songs were losing the groove, you know.
And it went beyond volatile.
It went beyond sort of tension, and it just fell apart.
# Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye, goodbye... # It went beyond sort of tension, and it just fell apart.
# Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye, goodbye... #
I remember at one point Don has a CP-70 piano,
and he just tipped the stand over and it just crashed on the floor,
but it was actually just sheer frustration.
He walked off, and I thought at that point the band was dead.
Look at you!
ROD: Steve was singled out as the sacrificial lamb.
And when we came back, um, he was basically, uh...
Well, there was no other way of putting it.
Well, there was no other way of ..fired, you know?
That was a crying shame, really, when I think about it,
because he was such an integral part of the band
that you couldn't really replace him.
At that stage, you know, it was 10 years or more.
You know, we'd toured and toured and toured, recorded.
Jim was getting fed up. He wanted to do his own thing.
Jim was getting fed up. We had a meeting at Don's place,
and it was decided that the band would, um...would call it a day.
Yeah. It was, um...
..depressing and scary
because I thought that was it.
It was all over.
That it was time to forget music altogether and go get a real job
That it was time to forget music and settle down and be responsible.
And I said to them, "Well, we can go out with a whimper
"or we can go out with a bang.
"We should do a final tour."
Suddenly everybody became all enthusiastic about it.
It was kind of weird, a little bit perverse, you know.
Like, we've just called it a day and now everybody's going,
"Yeah, this will be great! Let's go out and tour," you know.
You know, it's the last...last gig, you know.
So I thought I'd best come and see 'em.
I've seen him a couple times before.
They're a really top group.
They're not worth missing.
We were quite concerned that if the tickets don't go well,
we could be in a lot of trouble.
I got a call from somebody.
I think it might have been a radio guy saying,
"Do you realise there's people camping out with their sleeping bags
"outside the entertainment centres across the country?"
Those tickets please, with seated numbers on them,
would you like to go to the right side of McDonald's
and go in the main entrance? Thank you.
We love you, Jim Barnes.
Don't you dare...! Don't break up!
Don't you dare...! Come back!
Don't go. We love you so much. Yeah, please.
WOMAN: When I went to Cold Chisel's Last Stand,
I would have been 16 years old.
WOMAN: What do you think they've done for Australian music?
So, um, sort of given it an identity.
Like, people sort of say Cold Chisel,
and they say, "Hey, wow, it's really Australian."
And people, you know, something that...
And people, you know, The music is all about Australia.
I loved Cold Chisel.
I couldn't believe just when I was starting to love their music
I couldn't believe just when that it was all going to be over.
It's just the people because everyone gets right into it. that it was all going to be over.
It's just the people because everyone gets right into it.
I had to be there because It's just the people because I'd grown up with Cold Chisel, everyone gets right into it.
I had to be there because I'd grown up with Cold Chisel,
but deep down in my heart, I'm thinking,
"There's no way that this beautiful young band is going to stop here."
"There's no way that this beautiful Let's go sing a few songs.
PHIL: We were all thinking that this Let's go sing a few songs.
PHIL: We were all thinking that this is it. This is the last one.
Yeah, it was pretty bittersweet, a bit...very sad
because, you know, we knew it was the end.
As far as we all individually thought, this...
Never going to do this again. Not as Chisel.
# She just jumped on a plane and paid no attention to me
# Give me no notice but her goodbyes sure were sweet... #
We wanted to go out in a blaze of glory.
Steve was back in the band again,
and it brought all that magic and fire back into the band.
BOTH: # The Rising Sun just stole my girl away and it brought all that magic and fire back into the band.
BOTH: # The Rising Sun just stole my girl away
# The Rising Sun just stole my girl away... #
ROD: And there was an element of frustration.
ROD: And there was an element I knew if they had stuck together
that it could have happened for them overseas.
I firmly believe that, even to this day.
IAN: Halfway through that set, it just suddenly hit me.
IAN: Halfway through that set, This...
Uh, no, this is it, mate. This...
Uh, no, this is it, mate.
All done.
And there's little break, catch in my voice.
And there's little break, Just a tiny little catch.
And that was me just... Just a tiny little catch.
And that was me just... just catching myself from...
..starting to cry.
BOTH: # Squeeze me, darlin', and don't let go
# Hold me, darlin', don't let go
# Squeeze me, darlin', and don't let go. #
I'd be thinking, this is, you know,
last time I'm going to play I'd be thinking, this is, you know,
last time I'm going to play with these songs,
and that was a frightening thing for me,
and that was a frightening thing because I didn't know...
..I didn't know how I could go on without that band around me.
(CHEERING, APPLAUSE)
DON: I was very happy.
I felt...because it had been very tense in the band for quite a while,
I felt a great freedom... I felt...because it had been very tense in the band for quite a while,
I felt a great freedom...
..to be able to get on with the rest of my life.
I was like, "Well, this is it for me."
I don't...I didn't know what I was going to do.
I thought Chisel would initially fade away.
I just accepted that was...that was the last time we'd ever play.
That within a couple of years, it would be "Cold who?"
You're listening to Sydney's 104.9, Triple M.
You're listening to This is Cold Chisel's Choir Girl.
('CHOIR GIRL' PLAYS)
ROD: After the band had broken up, ('CHOIR GIRL' PLAYS)
ROD: After the band had broken up, strangely enough,
ROD: After the band had broken up, instead of dropping the band,
FM radio really, really got behind it,
and it just became their staple diet.
# She's crying like a refugee... #
MAN: FM radio was all about albums,
and the bands that were making great albums, like Cold Chisel, MAN: FM radio was all about albums,
and the bands that were making great albums, like Cold Chisel,
were the go-to bands.
# One nurse to hold her... #
I think for a lot of Australians,
Cold Chisel WAS the soundtrack I think for a lot of Australians,
Cold Chisel WAS the soundtrack to the best years of their lives.
# Well, I've been trying... #
So the fact that we were playing music long after they broke up
is no surprise.
Listeners were demanding it.
# Every night when I go home... # Listeners were demanding it.
# Every night when I go home... #
IAN: Every time we switched on the radio, there was a Cold Chisel song.
It was a complete surprise.
And on and on and on it went.
And then...I just realised these And on and on and on it went.
And then...I just realised these songs, they're definitely here to...
They're not going to go away.
ROD: Then they ended up selling more records, as such,
than what they had done prior to their break-up,
and it's kept the name alive.
# Get a dose of integrity... #
It kind of made the band uncool # Get a dose of integrity... #
It kind of made the band uncool
because they had become so popular.
So they were seen as part of this sort of bogan culture
that more sophisticated people were rejecting.
# How could I not believe when Ita tells me to? #
I mean, a lot of people just thought we were a pack of yobs.
You know, there's a lot of people out there that just thought
we were thick-headed yobs, which the band was far from.
# Yes, it's true
# When Ita tells me too. #
Somehow people remained interested
and Jim started to have, you know, big success around the country,
and Jim started to have, you know, which has continued.
# You've got to stand your ground which has continued.
# You've got to stand your ground
# And fight to save your life... #
And then a few years later, Ian had big success.
# Me and mine are gonna be around And then a few years later, Ian had big success.
# Me and mine are gonna be around
a memory... #
# When Tucker's daughter's a memory... #
ROD: During that period, when they were off doing their own thing,
ROD: During that period, when they there were rumours of, uh, offers.
Like, "If you could ever get there were rumours of, uh, offers.
Like, "If you could ever get the band back together,
"we'd be we'd be happy to give them $1 million,"
"we'd be we'd be happy or whatever the case may be.
But none of them were ever taken seriously.
Uh, we weren't really interested for that. It was like...
It was one of those things like hell freezing over, you know?
It was one of those things like Because we thought we'd done it all.
We said we weren't going to go back.
# Yesterdays are gone... #
In the early '90s, we released this album Teenage Love,
which was a compilation of very early...recordings.
# King's Cross is my home which was a compilation of very early...recordings.
# King's Cross is my home
# And all night long, I roam... #
It broke down the barriers, and they started talking.
It broke down the barriers, # As friends... #
PHIL: I think we all missed it, tell you the truth.
Maybe, you know, it's a possibility
that the band could...could reform and do another tour.
You know, I'd started to think it'd be great to do it again.
Uh, but, you know, it's one of those things where you...
There's a lot of...a lot of, you know, history,
a lot of...a lot of ghosts, you know,
attached to that band.
Uh, and are they best left undisturbed,
or do we disturb them again?
I didn't like the idea...
..initially.
Because I was adamant when the band ..initially.
Because I was adamant when the band broke up that that is actually it.
Because I was adamant when the band That's finished.
It took me another three years, at least another three years, That's finished.
It took me another three years, at least another three years,
to get them back together.
All of this was in secret,
so I had to find somewhere that was secure for the band
and I eventually found the Opera House downstairs.
Nobody knew about this.
All those Chisel fans are out there
wondering whether the band's ever going to get back together again,
wondering whether the band's ever and there they are,
down in the bowels of and there they are,
down in the bowels of the Sydney Opera House,
basically putting together all the songs.
(SINGS INDISTINCTLY)
But the big question was,
it's been 15 years since we were in a room together.
it's been 15 years since Do we still sound any good?
(MUSIC PLAYS) That's better.
There was great joy in the moment when we first lit something up,
and realised that, yeah, we can play together.
Bit rough, needs a bit of work, but it sounds pretty good.
We're still a band.
There's underlying excitement.
No-one's saying anything, but I can...
I can just feel it in the room.
We know we've got it.
Um, all we have to do is knuckle down and do the work.
# The things I love in
# The things I love in... #
ROD: And so we decided we'd do three shows out in the country,
away from the city
where nobody would see us other than the locals.
It was advertised as Jimmy Barnes shows,
so I always remember the look on people's face
so I always remember when Jimmy Barnes's band come out,
but it's not Jimmy Barnes's band, it's...
Oh, my God, that's Cold Chisel.
('THE THINGS I LOVE IN YOU' PLAYS)
# I hung out on the corner doin' time... #
PHIL: It was just... felt like the old days.
It was good to see the crowds turn up in the numbers they did.
That reaffirmed that, well, this wasn't a bad idea.
# I love...
IAN: I think, yeah, I think the magic was back.
But it wasn't exactly the smoothest.
Some, uh...
..rocky things going on internally.
The relationship between the guys in Cold Chisel is very, very good,
The relationship between the guys when we're not working together.
But every time we get together, there are problems.
# The things I love in you. #
ROD: At the end of The Last Wave Of Summer,
I mean, the same old tensions grew again.
And the band, for want of a better word, imploded again.
I think as we got older, And the band, for want of a better word, imploded again.
I think as we got older,
um, it's not that Cold Chisel kept breaking up then.
It was just we had to lay it to rest,
because we could only take so much of the intensity of it at one time.
Uh, and that's the way it's been for the last, you know,
30 or 40 years. (LAUGHS)
# Saturday night
# Do do do, do do, do do do # Saturday night
# Do do do, do do, do do do
# Saturday night
# Do do do, do do, do do do
# Saturday night...
MARK: Each time that they have returned
to play a series of national concerts,
they come back together,
and then they disappear for 5 or 10 years,
and then they disappear come back together.
They're still writing new songs.
They're not trying to coast They're still writing new songs.
They're not trying to coast simply on their old hits.
But, you know, those first four albums,
But, you know, they really kick arse.
(LAUGHS) You know?
MAN: In 2009, Chisel played a huge one-off performance (LAUGHS) You know?
MAN: In 2009, Chisel played a huge one-off performance
to 50,000 people at Sydney's Olympic Park.
Then they secretly started recording a new album,
Then they secretly making plans to tour again.
But in early 2011, making plans to tour again.
But in early 2011, they were dealt a massive blow.
JIMMY: When Steve got sick, it was, like, heart wrenching.
Steve was like my brother.
We got drunk, we fought.
We, you know, punched each other, we cuddled each other.
IAN: We were in a rehearsal situation.
We were sending somebody out to buy him Nurofen by the truckload
because he always had these headaches.
He had a prior brain tumour. I never even realised that. because he always had these headaches.
He had a prior brain tumour. I never even realised that.
So when I heard that... it had come back,
So when I heard that... it was quite a shock for me.
DON: And he was going to have to have an operation.
I was talking to him right up, by phone,
right up until, you know, the day before.
right up until, And then he had the operation.
He never regained consciousness.
And suddenly we got this call He never regained consciousness.
And suddenly we got this call that he didn't make it.
And it was... It was like the world had fallen apart.
# I got things to do... And it was... It was like the world had fallen apart.
# I got things to do...
After Steve's passing, we found one of his last songs that he'd written
called I've Got Things to Do,
and we decided to release it with him singing it.
and we decided to release it # Honey, now, when you're gone...
Well, obviously you sort of build up a bit of something # Honey, now, when you're gone...
Well, obviously you sort of build up a bit of something
more than sort of camaraderie.
It's...
Because we've basically been living together for a long time,
Because we've basically been you know, touring.
Um...
You know the old saying, you know,
your friends are the people who you know all their faults as well,
your friends are the people who but you still like them. (LAUGHS)
You know, that's... I think but you still like them. (LAUGHS)
You know, that's... I think that's what it boils down to.
# My work is done, this is my time... #
JIMMY: Steve wrote some of the most melodic songs
that Cold Chisel ever played.
Whenever we play, you know, Flame Trees,
whenever we play When The War Is Over,
you know, Forever Now, you know, it's...
I still get, you know, misty and I get teary
I still get, you know, thinking about Steve these days.
IAN: When Steve passed away, um...
"What do we do now?
"Is it the respectful thing to end it all, finish it?"
But I think as we sort of accepted his passing,
But I think as we sort of we thought,
"No, he would have wanted us to keep going and keep making music."
# We share some history "No, he would have wanted us to keep going and keep making music."
# We share some history
# This town and I...
MARK: History is Cold Chisel's reward, right?
Their songs are embedded into the national psyche.
They're stone-cold classics.
And there as much a part of who we are in our head spaces
as Henry Lawson's story The Drover's Wife
or Banjo Paterson's The Man from Snowy River,
or Banjo Paterson's or whatever it might be.
# Oh, the flame trees will blind the weary driver
# And there's nothing else could set fire to this town... #
I like to call the lyrics of Cold Chisel "people's poetry".
I like to call the lyrics It really is.
These are poetic songs delivered by stealth,
um, in a visage of rock'n'roll.
# Ain't nobody gonna steal this heart away... um, in a visage of rock'n'roll.
# Ain't nobody gonna steal this heart away...
When I see a crowd singing back to me, it's bloody...
It's emotional.
That's just the ultimate knowing that you've...
That's just the ultimate ..you've won these people's hearts.
# Ain't nobody gonna steal this heart away... #
These songs have become a part of people's lives,
and that's something that we never dreamed about as a band.
People come up to me and stop me in the street and cry, you know,
and say, you know, "I play your songs.
"I played that at my son's 21st."
You know, "I danced my first dance with my wife to your songs."
You know, "I danced my first dance "I buried my father to your songs."
You know, you play... "I played this at my bar mitzvah."
Well, it's music you listened to since you were, you know,
Well, it's music you listened to 16 or 17 years old.
And I still listen to it to this day.
Flame Trees was always a favourite.
It was one of my wife's favourite songs as well.
It was one of my wife's So when my wife passed away,
to have it used in her funeral service,
to have it used it's very meaningful.
# ..to this town...
And also, um, near the end,
when it says it makes it harder to believe that she won't be around,
when it says it makes it harder and, um...yeah, it's, um...sad.
# Just makes it harder to believe and, um...yeah, it's, um...sad.
# Just makes it harder to believe that she won't be around
# Oh
# Who needs that sentimental bullshit anyway? #
TRENT: There is nothing like
the feeling of a party at midnight,
and you wrap your arms around about 10 people you love,
and you all turn to yourself and say,
"Who needs that sentimental bullshit anyway?"
So who needs that sentimental bullshit anyway?
I do.
We all do.
ANNOUNCER: Members of the first Regiment.
ANNOUNCER: Members of MAN: As a Vietnam veteran,
there's one Cold Chisel song MAN: As a Vietnam veteran,
there's one Cold Chisel song that strikes a chord with me,
there's one Cold Chisel song and that's Khe Sanh.
# I had the Vietnam cold turkey...
Yeah, I was conscripted in 1966,
and the following year Yeah, I was conscripted in 1966,
and the following year went off to South-East Asia,
where I spent 318 days, and the following year went off to South-East Asia,
where I spent 318 days,
glorious days in lovely South Vietnam,
uh, fighting for my country.
# How there were uh, fighting for my country.
# How there were no V-day heroes in 1973...
The song brings back Vietnam and the times I was there,
The song brings back Vietnam and that I arrived home safely,
and of those that didn't.
# And I've been back to South-East Asia
# You know the answer sure ain't there... #
In the years after it was released, the song has gained popularity.
The audience in the concerts go bananas when it's on.
# Really got me worried
# I'm goin' nowhere, and I'm in a hurry
# You know the last plane out of Sydney's almost gone... #
MARK: Khe Sanh is like a national anthem,
MARK: Khe Sanh just like Waltzing Matilda.
People love it. It's in their lives, you know.
In fact, I think they could probably sing Khe Sanh
better than they could sing the national anthem.
# You know the last plane out of Sydney's almost gone. #
I firmly believe there are three generations of Chisel fan.
You know, there's the lucky ones,
the ones who found them, you know, mid '70s,
and they would have been at the pubs.
You know, I'm the middle generation where, you know,
I got the compilation records and then the reunion records.
And then there's the third generation,
And then there's and that's like my daughters.
And they came to this band via Sarah Blasko.
# Oh, the flame trees will blind the weary driver... #
And I was really familiar with Flame Trees my whole life,
'cause I heard it on the radio all the time,
and I was invited to sing on a version of it
for the film Little Fish.
# There's no change, there's no pace...
# There's no change, Pretty much every show I do,
there's always somebody going, "Play Flame Trees!" (LAUGHS)
# Just makes it harder to believe
# She won't be around, oh. #
Cold Chisel getting into their 50th year.
Well, this, to me, it's truly amazing
and something I would have never foreseen.
and something And it's also making us...
It's making me feel very old. (LAUGHS)
It's making me feel very old. 50 years, my God.
So first order of business 50 years, my God.
So first order of business is looking at the album cover.
IAN: The next few months will see us getting back together
IAN: The next few months for another run late in the year.
We're not known for our subtlety, really.
So with that in mind... But that's pretty good.
A little bit of trepidation, a little bit of nerves.
I'd go for the unsubtle one too. Yeah.
A certain amount of kind of feeling there's always...
We're still yet to deliver our best.
If we stop and retire and give up, that's...
That's the day we'll start dying.
TEX: They're our benchmark of how long you can keep this thing going.
Like the Rolling Stones, everyone's liking, TEX: They're our benchmark of how long you can keep this thing going.
Like the Rolling Stones, everyone's liking,
Like the Rolling Stones, "Wow."
(LAUGHS) "You can still do this."
And it's good.
And, uh, Cold Chisel are our home, you know, example
of how long you can keep this going.
# I said The Rising Sun just stole my girl away... #
DON: We're knitted together,
probably a little bit better at dealing with things
probably a little bit better and a little bit wiser.
# On the last wave of summer and a little bit wiser.
# On the last wave of summer
# I lost my soul to you... #
Charley Drayton plays with us now, and Charley is, like,
probably one of the best groove drummers in the world,
bar none, you know?
And a great friend of ours, dear friend.
He pays homage to Steve every night too.
# I lost it all to you
Last year I was in hospital and critical when I could have died,
Last year I was in hospital and and came close to it.
Uh, and I want to play and came close to it.
Uh, and I want to play the music that I love
Uh, and I want to play with the band that I love.
# Oh... #
If I die after I've done this, at least I know I've done it.
Uh, I want to play music till the day we drop.
Uh, I want to play music # Oh, yeah... #
If I can do this when we're 90,
I'll get the band If I can do this when we're 90,
I'll get the band back together again.
I'll get the band # Oh, oh yeah, whoa... #
We're going to play and keep playing.
# Oh! #
Thank you very much.
(CHEERING)
Captions by Red Bee Media
Copyright Australian Broadcasting Corporation